Netflix instant viewing no longer working

[chakramspice]

Hi all,
I've been watching movies instantly on netflix on my Macbook via fusion and boot camp for some time. All of a sudden yesterday I got an error that something was wrong with my DRM. Netflix customer support gave me a lot of tips (reinstalling the DRM folder, changing the screen resolution, updating the video drivers, disconnecting my LCD monitor) but nothing worked, and they told me ultimately they're not responsible for Macs. The tech support guy suggested that DRM is very wonky and sometimes it just breaks out of the blue, and that despite months of viewing they'd been getting an error message about my monitor for several weeks, a concern about it being secure (it's mini-DVI to VGA). Has anyone here had a similar problem and been able to resolve it? Any idea for how to make it work again? I use Windows XP and recently upgraded to Service Pack 3 as well.

 

[metropolitim]

Somebody else may have the exact answer, in which case I encourage you to ignore this. In the meantime....

As part of the troubleshooting process, you should boot into Windows directly rather than via Fusion.

If it works, it works. May not be the ideal solution, but for the price of a reboot holding the option key, tolerable.

If it doesn't work even in a native Win boot, THEN here's what you do. Call Netflix back, and when they ask what kind of computer you're using, tell 'em it's a PC running XP SP 3.

If they ask for a model, make something up. All PCs bite about equally, and the hardware has absolutely no bearing on either the problem or the solution.

Once you get it working on Windows, THEN call VMware and say, hey, this works on Windows, help me get it working in my virtual machine.

If you booted into Windows and Netflix can't get it to work....and nobody here knows the answer...well, I hope that's not the case.

My point is that we can never know what we're looking at until we isolate the problem. If it's Fusion, call VMware.

If it's a problem in a native Win boot, never ever ever tell 'em you're using a Mac. You are in fact using a PC with Windows. They'll dive off the phone as quickly as they can if you mention a Mac, because they're right -- nothing in their training tells them how to deal with Macs.

But if there's one thing that most Win vendors know how to do, it's clean up after Windows. As much practice as they get they SHOULD be good at it by now. Keep their eye on the ball. This is Windows, sucka. Fix it.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

Best,
Tim

 

[operator207]

Are you booting in bootcamp and fusion the same install of XP? Making Fusion use the bootcamp partition?

Makes me wonder if the DRM has decided your "sharing" it via 2 separate machines. And locking you out. I do not know much in regards to DRM, but it seems possible. Similar to the registration of XP with Bootcamp and Fusion when using the same partition.

Its a possibility.

 

[BornAgainMac]

A few days ago I googled about SP3 and came across someone that upgraded to SP3 had issues with Fusion. Generally people that upgraded to SP3 were unhappy. I thought SP3 was just all the patches after SP2 so that doesn't make any sense.

 

[chakramspice]

I'm in boot camp now, and resetting my DRM folder and disconnecting my LCD monitor does not seem to have helped... I'm still getting a DRM error. I'll see what Netflix tech support can do for my "PC"

 

[chakramspice]

fixed!

The netflix guy was helpful but unable to solve the problem, and suggested the problem coincided with my upgrade to SP3. He also hinted that SP3 had been giving other customers trouble too. I did a system restore as far back as I could, which was still service pack 3. Luckily, it works again, despite being SP3! I did make some changes via add/remove programs inbetween now and then, and I think that may have been what caused the glitch. Perhaps some Windoze accessories needed to stay put after all. Anyway, thanks for your input!